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When Did The Betrayal Begin?

A frequent problem when taking in a new asset search in divorce is figuring out how far back to look. Clients in divorce usually know a lot more about their spouse than anyone else, at least when it comes to daily habits, close friends, and…
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That Bank Account Information Your Investigator Got? Probably a Crime

Half the time when someone calls our office about asset identification they tell us, “I need bank account information.” When told that without a court order there is nearly no legal way to get that kind of information from a bank without…
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The Jeffrey Epstein Lesson in Overseas Asset Searches

We’ve written here many times about how tough (i.e. slow and expensive) it can be to track down overseas assets. In short, you need to be going after serious money to make it worthwhile, and you can often get clues to the location of offshore…
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Tracking Kim’s Mercedes: It’s All About What’s Not There

Not for the first time, the most compelling piece of information in an investigation is what isn’t there. We’ve written often before about the failure of databases and artificial intelligence to knit together output from various databases…
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The Offshore Asset Search Starter Kit

This blog has been pretty clear over the years that an offshore asset search is not for the faint of heart or anyone on a tight budget. We have recommended that even if you think there are assets outside the U.S., you could get a better idea…
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The College Admissions Scandal: Another Teachable Moment

The college admissions scandal has been full of wonderful teachable moments – about ethics, humility, greed and corruption. Now for asset hunters there is a new nugget today: overpaying on purpose. As the Boston Globe reported yesterday,…
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What to Expect from a Divorce Asset Search

At some point with nearly every asset search our firm conducts, we end up telling clients that finding assets is often more than a one-step process. The one step some people think we need to take is to consult some databases, and voila! A…
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Using Forensic Accountants in Divorce Searches: Don’t Forget the Investigator Piece

One of the most frequently-asked questions new divorce-related clients ask us is: “If I need a forensic accountant can you do that?” The answer we give is that we are not forensic accountants, but you probably need us anyway because forensic…
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Atlanta Paper Exposes Widespread Violation of Federal Law by Private Investigators and the Lawyers That Enable Them

Great work by the Atlanta Journal Constitution on an issue that’s bugged me for years: the brazen violation of federal law by investigators and the lawyers who hire them. At issue is the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, meant to protect the confidentiality…
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Way After Madoff Ponzi Schemes Are Still With Us: How to Avoid Them

Nearly ten years on since the arrest of master Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, the Ponzi fraudsters are still with us. Maybe not with as much money as Madoff’s billions, but powerful enough to do a lot of damage. Being devoted to finding assets,…